Reporter

Float Call. Organizers of the Tulsa Holiday Parade of Lights, Tulsa's annual holiday parade, announced that applications are being accepted for floats, marching bands and specialty units wanting to participate in this year's event. Sponsorship opportunities for professionally-built floats and giant helium balloons are also available.

The 2011 Parade of Lights is scheduled to take place in downtown Tulsa at 6pm Saturday, Dec. 10. Beginning and ending in the Blue Dome District for the first time, 2011 will mark the 76th year that downtown Tulsa has hosted a holiday parade. Application forms, along with parade rules and regulations, can be obtained by sending an email to tulsaholidayparade@gmail.com. The application deadline is Friday, Oct. 28.

Volunteers are also being sought to serve as parade marshals. To be a parade marshal, you must be at least 18 years old or a senior in high school.

Over the Pond. Tony Blair will be one of several world renowned speakers for the 2011-2012 Executive Management Briefings in Oklahoma City and the Tulsa Business Forums speaker series.

Each year, these speaker series showcase world leaders, renowned business and political leaders, authors and policymakers to the Oklahoma City and Tulsa business communities.

The "Remarks by Tony Blair," featuring the former prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2007, is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 1. He will address the Tulsa business community at the Mabee Center in the morning and speak that afternoon at the Oklahoma City Civic Center.

For more information about the Executive Management Briefings in Oklahoma City or to learn about how you can participate as a sponsor, email Gaye Trivitt at gaye.trivitt@okstate.edu or visit cepd.okstate.edu.

Balanced Nutrition. Oklahoma has a vision -- creating healthy places to live, work, learn and play so that our state can be a "bright spot" in the nation. Two new Certified Healthy Oklahoma programs offered by the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) -- Certified Healthy Schools and Certified Healthy Communities -- provide opportunities for schools and communities to achieve certification in activities they provide to Oklahomans to improve their health and the health of others. Schools interested in meeting the challenge of improving the health of their students and staff, and communities who are willing to commit to creating healthy environments, may be interested in applying for certification that will recognize their investment and dedication.

Applications to become a Certified Healthy School or Certified Healthy Community must be submitted by Nov. 1 for consideration and recognition at a special ceremony in Oklahoma City March 1, 2012. Each program has three levels of certification: Basic, Merit and Excellence. Criteria details and application information for both are available at okturningpoint.org.

Taking Cover. National Weather Service officials have recognized Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) in Okmulgee as a StormReady university. OSUIT is the first organization in the Tulsa Weather Service Office to achieve the designation, which covers eastern Oklahoma and several counties in western Arkansas.

To be recognized as StormReady, a community must establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center; must have more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public; must create a system that monitors local weather conditions; must promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars; and must develop a formal hazardous weather plan. StormReady is a program that started in 1999 in Tulsa aimed at helping America's communities with the safety skills needed to save lives and property before and during severe weather. Since its induction, StormReady has recognized 87 universities, 10 American Indian nations, 39 commercial sites, 21 military sites and 15 government sites nationwide

For more information about the StormReady program, visit stormready.noaa.gov.